'Assault rifle' debate misses the point

Published: Wednesday, September 25, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, September 24, 2013 at 4:54 p.m.

As I read the seemingly never-ending arguments about why a citizen should or should not be permitted to own an “assault rifle,” two points came immediately to mind.

The first point is that arguing about an “assault rifle” is foolish because, by definition, only a military assault rifle is specifically designed and capable of automatic firing; and second, automatic rifles, with few exceptions, may not be owned by ordinary private citizens.

So an AR-15, while looking incredibly menacing, is no more automatic than the .22 rifle used by Boy Scouts for target shooting. Both weapons can shoot only one bullet per trigger pull, and there’s nothing automatic or assault-like in doing that. Hopefully, that puts the argument about the use of the words “assault rifle” to bed.

But why have such weapons? That’s another argument entirely, and one that is of great concern to about 50 million Americans who own an estimated 150 million to 200 million guns.

To address the question of why we should have guns as powerful as an AR-15, let’s start with a simple document that is basically the foundational answer to the question about all gun ownership — the United States Constitution.

The Second Amendment clearly states that “a well-regulated militia is necessary for the security of a free people … .” Most Americans fail to understand that they belong to the militia of the state in which they live. That’s right, if you’re a male, you’re a member of the North Carolina militia. Congratulations!

For liberal males who oppose guns for whatever reasons, your membership in our militia must come as a shock to you. I’m pretty certain that you didn’t know your belonging to our state’s militia is stipulated under Title 10, Section 31 of the U.S. Code stating that the militia of each state includes “all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and under 45 years of age who are or have (made) a declaration of intent to become citizens.”

You, like most people, probably thought the word militia meant only members of our National Guard. But the truth is the National Guard is a specialized reserve unit of troops in every state who have been trained at federal expense for military service. While they can be called upon by a state’s governor in times of local disasters, it is the president and the federal government who send those troops into foreign wars such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.

What does all this have to do with the discussion of AR-15 rifles or why anyone should be allowed to own this powerful weapon? That answer also goes back to our Founding Fathers, who knew the history of European and other foreign governments. That history has shown again and again that in nations where the political leaders wanted to curtail people’s property rights and freedom, the first step always taken was to disarm them.

The disarming of the people wasn’t accomplished in a single draconian step. It was done incrementally, first by requiring the registration of all weapons or face severe penalties.

In many situations, the next step taken by those leaders involved deliberate provocation of violence, looting and rioting. This provided them the excuse needed to confiscate all firearms held by private citizens in the name of stopping the mayhem and killing.

Our Founders believed the right to keep and bear arms was an unalienable right, meaning it could not be taken, surrendered or given away without your permission. Those unalienable rights were and are directly connected to the preservation of life, liberty and property.

The right to keep and bear arms as provided in our Constitution had virtually nothing to do with our forefathers’ need to shoot animals so they might feed their families. It had everything to do with preventing the history of these despots from ever repeating itself on American soil.

Therefore, to be able to protect our families, liberty and property, we the people must be capable of protecting ourselves from a very well-armed government that might attempt to repeat the history of kings and dictators around the world by attempting to take from us our most precious assets of life, liberty and property.

We, like the government, must have the right to own and bear arms. We must be capable of adequately protecting ourselves, those we love and that which we have acquired by our own hand from anyone who would take it from us without our permission or due process. This includes our own government.

And that’s the real point of the argument for gun ownership — even an AR-15.

<p>As I read the seemingly never-ending arguments about why a citizen should or should not be permitted to own an “assault rifle,” two points came immediately to mind.</p><p>The first point is that arguing about an “assault rifle” is foolish because, by definition, only a military assault rifle is specifically designed and capable of automatic firing; and second, automatic rifles, with few exceptions, may not be owned by ordinary private citizens.</p><p>So an AR-15, while looking incredibly menacing, is no more automatic than the .22 rifle used by Boy Scouts for target shooting. Both weapons can shoot only one bullet per trigger pull, and there's nothing automatic or assault-like in doing that. Hopefully, that puts the argument about the use of the words “assault rifle” to bed.</p><p>But why have such weapons? That's another argument entirely, and one that is of great concern to about 50 million Americans who own an estimated 150 million to 200 million guns.</p><p>To address the question of why we should have guns as powerful as an AR-15, let's start with a simple document that is basically the foundational answer to the question about all gun ownership — the United States Constitution.</p><p>The Second Amendment clearly states that “a well-regulated militia is necessary for the security of a free people … .” Most Americans fail to understand that they belong to the militia of the state in which they live. That's right, if you're a male, you're a member of the North Carolina militia. Congratulations!</p><p>For liberal males who oppose guns for whatever reasons, your membership in our militia must come as a shock to you. I'm pretty certain that you didn't know your belonging to our state's militia is stipulated under Title 10, Section 31 of the U.S. Code stating that the militia of each state includes “all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and under 45 years of age who are or have (made) a declaration of intent to become citizens.”</p><p>You, like most people, probably thought the word militia meant only members of our National Guard. But the truth is the National Guard is a specialized reserve unit of troops in every state who have been trained at federal expense for military service. While they can be called upon by a state's governor in times of local disasters, it is the president and the federal government who send those troops into foreign wars such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan.</p><p>What does all this have to do with the discussion of AR-15 rifles or why anyone should be allowed to own this powerful weapon? That answer also goes back to our Founding Fathers, who knew the history of European and other foreign governments. That history has shown again and again that in nations where the political leaders wanted to curtail people's property rights and freedom, the first step always taken was to disarm them.</p><p>The disarming of the people wasn't accomplished in a single draconian step. It was done incrementally, first by requiring the registration of all weapons or face severe penalties.</p><p>In many situations, the next step taken by those leaders involved deliberate provocation of violence, looting and rioting. This provided them the excuse needed to confiscate all firearms held by private citizens in the name of stopping the mayhem and killing.</p><p>Our Founders believed the right to keep and bear arms was an unalienable right, meaning it could not be taken, surrendered or given away without your permission. Those unalienable rights were and are directly connected to the preservation of life, liberty and property.</p><p>The right to keep and bear arms as provided in our Constitution had virtually nothing to do with our forefathers' need to shoot animals so they might feed their families. It had everything to do with preventing the history of these despots from ever repeating itself on American soil.</p><p>Therefore, to be able to protect our families, liberty and property, we the people must be capable of protecting ourselves from a very well-armed government that might attempt to repeat the history of kings and dictators around the world by attempting to take from us our most precious assets of life, liberty and property.</p><p>We, like the government, must have the right to own and bear arms. We must be capable of adequately protecting ourselves, those we love and that which we have acquired by our own hand from anyone who would take it from us without our permission or due process. This includes our own government.</p><p>And that's the real point of the argument for gun ownership — even an AR-15.</p>